Hemswell Antique Centres Unique Antiques Course was a Terrific Success
Last week Hemswell Antiques Centre offered its customers a unique opportunity - to learn about antique furniture from a practicing dealer. Given the amount of media coverage and the public interest in antiques you would think there would be antiques courses everywhere. Not so - Alex who took a place on the first course - came all the way from London because she could not find what she wanted anywhere else. There were a few fine art courses offered by the auction houses but they were far too vague and didn't offer me the hands on experience with furniture that I was looking for.
The course was given over three days by one of the county's most respected and experienced antique dealers and LAPADA member, Chris Wilde. Chris not only has over twenty years full time in the antiques trade but prior to that spent over ten years in education as a lecturer in history so he has the ideal background for the job. Chris agrees with Alex's assessment of the situation: You can't really learn about antiques just from books or pictures - you need hands on experience examining pieces carefully under the guidance of a professional who can show you what to look for and how to look. That's what we do on the course - we give a complete overview of all the period styles using the extensive stock of the centre to show students what they should be looking for in order to appreciate antiques and to spot alterations and downright fakes and copies. There is nowhere else in England that I know of teaching about antiques in this way.
The course is designed with two types of people in mind - those who own or have an interest in antiques and want to learn to appreciate and understand them, and those who want to buy antiques and don't know where to start or what to look for. It's no exaggeration to say that the latter group can't afford not to do this course. We can't teach people to be experts in three days, says Chris, but we can teach them enough to avoid the obvious pitfalls and give people a strategy to adopt before they go out buying. That can save them a lot of money or stop them buying a real howler.
The first course has been an amazing success with all the students wanting to sign up for more specialist courses:
Courses are limited to a maximum of 10 people and cost ?125pp for the three days including a complete set of course notes and refreshments. For further information, please call the Centres on 01427 668389 ext.228 or e-mail enquiries@hemswell-antiques.com.